"As a matter of practice, the federal government doesn't maintain a list of hate groups," said the official White House response. "That all said, we agree that practices such as protesting at the funerals of men and women who died in service to this country and preventing their families from mourning peacefully are reprehensible."

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), an unaffiliated Baptist church of around 50 members, has picketed the funerals of service members and Newtown, Conn., school shooting victims in the name of its anti-gay ideology.